THE long-held minority view that William Shakespeare’s plays were actually written by someone else is convincingly rejected in this book.

Although Columbia University Professor James Shapiro demolishes the alternative author theory, he does not contest that some of the later plays were co-authored by the Bard and other writers.

Shapiro points out that Shakespeare became a literary star in London during his own lifetime and if he had not written the plays, it could not possibly have been kept a secret. Doubts over authorship were only raised centuries after his death, often by eccentric individuals. Even today, sane, well-educated people persist in raising the question.

Indeed, the popularity of conspiracy theories is so strong that neither Shapiro nor anyone else is likely to lie to rest entirely the claim that England’s immortal playwright was actually someone else.